---
id: "concept-stage-contracts"
type: "concept"
source_timestamps: ["§3.3"]
tags: ["human-in-the-loop", "pipeline", "contracts"]
related: ["concept-icm", "concept-five-layer-hierarchy", "framework-icm-architecture", "concept-edit-source-principle"]
definition: "Each stage folder declares an Inputs/Process/Outputs contract; between stages sit human review gates where the output becomes editable before the next stage reads it."
sources: ["paper"]
sourceVaultSlug: "icm-paper-folder-architecture-2026Jun02"
originDay: 2
---
# Stage Contracts and Review Gates

## The contract

Each stage folder carries a Layer 2 `CONTEXT.md` that declares:

- **Inputs** — what files this stage reads.
- **Process** — the role the agent plays here.
- **Outputs** — what files it writes.

It reads from the previous stage's `output/` folder, processes per its own contract, and writes to its own `output/` folder. The full on-disk shape is in [[framework-icm-architecture]].

## Review gates

At each boundary, a human can **inspect and edit** the output before the next stage runs:

- A research document that misses an angle gets edited before the script stage.
- A script that runs too long gets trimmed before production.

This editing rhythm follows a U-shape — heavy at stage 1, light in the middle, heavy at the final stage — see [[claim-ushaped-intervention]]. The implementation discipline is [[action-review-gates]].

## Why this is not "multi-agent"

The same model executes every stage; only the folder structure differs. The "multi-agent" behaviour is an **illusion produced entirely by folder scoping plus human gates** — there is no router model and no orchestration code, per the thesis captured in [[quote-folder-controls-context]]. Why the same model behaves differently per stage is explained by [[concept-context-scoping]].

## Future direction

Review gates today invite editing *output*, which works but treats symptoms. A more principled approach — editing the *source* that produced the output — is articulated in [[concept-edit-source-principle]] and pointed at by [[question-semantic-debugging]].


## Related across days
- [[framework-skill-creation]]
- [[concept-five-layer-hierarchy]]
- [[synthesis-skill-equals-stage-contract]]
- [[action-numbered-stage-folders]]
- [[action-review-gates]]
- [[claim-ushaped-intervention]]